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2 US terror militia members admit role in attack on Minnesota mosque

Suspects confess to being members of an Illinois militia group whose aim is to scare Muslims into leaving the US
The suspects were behind the fire-bombing of the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington on Aug. 5, 2017
ST. PAUL, Minnesota: Hoping to scare Muslims into leaving the US,
members of an Illinois militia group rented a truck and drove more than
500 miles (805 kilometers) to bomb a Minnesota mosque, two men admitted
Thursday.
Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris said that when they arrived at the Dar
Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington on Aug. 5, 2017, they broke a
window and threw a lit pipe bomb and a gasoline mixture inside, causing
an explosion, fire and extensive damage. No one was injured in the
attack, which happened just as morning prayers were about to begin,
shaking members of the local Muslim community.
McWhorter, 29, and Morris, 23, of Clarence, Illinois, each pleaded
guilty Thursday to five counts in connection with the mosque attack, the
attempted bombing of an Illinois abortion clinic, armed robberies and
other crimes.
A third defendant, 47-year-old Michael Hari, whom prosecutors said directed the bombing, remains in federal custody in Illinois.
The plea agreements portray Hari as the ringleader of a militia group
called the White Rabbits, which included Hari, McWhorter, Morris and at
least five other people. Hari’s trial is set for July.
The guilty pleas of McWhorter and Morris came a day before three members
of another militia were set to be sentenced for a foiled plot to
massacre Muslims in southwest Kansas by blowing up a mosque and
apartments housing Somali immigrants. That attack, planned for the day
after the November 2016 election, was thwarted after another member of
the group tipped off authorities.
In the Minnesota mosque bombing, Hari allegedly picked Dar Al-Farooq
because it was far enough away from the White Rabbits’ central Illinois
hometown that he thought they wouldn’t be suspected. He also allegedly
believed it was a focal point for terror recruiting, a claim that law
enforcement has not substantiated.
Morris’ attorney, Robert Richman, said Morris merely followed the lead
of Hari, a man he’d known as a father figure since he was 9.
“Hari essentially weaponized Joe Morris,” Richman said.
McWhorter’s attorney, Chris Madel, said: “Human beings are a lot more
complicated than what some people believe, and Michael McWhorter’s story
has yet to be told.”
Morris and McWhorter could each face at least 35 years in prison.
Neither attorney would say whether his client would cooperate or testify
against Hari. Messages left with Hari’s attorneys in Illinois and
Minnesota were not immediately returned.
The plea agreements say the men targeted the mosque to interfere with
the free exercise of religion by Muslims and to let Muslims know they
were not welcome in the United States.
It’s not clear how the White Rabbits became aware of Dar Al-Farooq, but
the mosque was in headlines in recent years: Some young people from
Minnesota who traveled to Syria to join the Daesh group had worshipped
there. Mosque leaders were never accused of any wrongdoing.
Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations in Minnesota, said McWhorter and Morris wanted the Muslim
community to be fearful and run away.
“We’re not going anywhere,” he said.
According to the plea agreements, the men were headed toward Minnesota
when Hari told McWhorter and Morris that he had a pipe bomb in the
vehicle and they were going to bomb a mosque.
When the three arrived at Dar Al-Farooq, Hari gave Morris a sledgehammer
and told him to break a window, the plea agreements say. McWhorter then
lit the fuse on the pipe bomb and threw it inside; Morris threw the
gasoline mixture.
McWhorter and Morris also pleaded guilty to their roles in a failed
attack on a Champaign, Illinois, abortion clinic in November 2017. A
pipe bomb that Morris said he and Hari threw into the clinic did not
explode.
The plea agreements say Hari, McWhorter, Morris and others also
participated in an armed home invasion in Ambia, Indiana, and the armed
robberies or attempted armed robberies of two Walmart stores in
Illinois.
Morris and McWhorter also admitted to attempting to extort Canadian
National Railway by threatening to damage tracks if the railroad didn’t
pay them money.
A fourth man, Ellis Mack of Clarence, already pleaded guilty to two counts in Illinois. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in April.